Into the Woods
by LordofCamels
Summary: A bus crashes in a haunted wood and the survivors must find a way to get out alive. Ships include: LenxGumi LenxMiku KaitoxLuka Rated Teen for bad language and disturbing imagery to come. You should also be able to read this fic without any prior knowledge of vocaloid.
1. Chapter 1: Crash

**INTRODUCTION TIME:**

**Happy birthday! Whose birthday is it? Mine. That's right, I made it a whole sixteen years without jumping off a building or tripping and falling down the stairs, and I expect a review from every one of you.**

**Mountain97, if you're reading this, why aren't you writing Kill the Rabbit chapters? But seriously, thanks for supporting me all this time.**

**I hope you all enjoy the story while it lasts. Because I have a terrible habit of not finishing these:**

* * *

Meiko's bus was blue, green and white. It was about 10 years old. The old man who drove the bus before her died this year, and now it was she who drove it from Hajima station in Rasetsu, to Torinoko station in Senbonzu. There were a lot of stories circulating in Rasetsu about the old man's death. They say he died suddenly, the official word was of a heart attack, but in Rasetsu, they said he died of unnatural causes. Supernatural causes even. The old man had no family, and in his will, he wrote only one thing. Shut down the bus route on June the 1st. That was his sole request, and it was ignored. This was Meiko's first time driving on the infamous June 1st. Last year, she was sick and one of her friends drove for her. Meiko wasn't afraid. She didn't believe in the supernatural and she needed this job. She wasn't going to run off because of a creepy story.

The bus system existed mainly to take people through the wood. The woods lay between Rasetsu and Senbonzu, and had been there since before anyone could remember. They were large, and easy to get lost in, but because they were one of the few old forests left in Japan, they were not destroyed, but instead, a road was built through them, and a bus route established. Anyone who chose to walk through the woods on their own was definitely crazy. Just like the death of the old man, the woods were shrouded in legend and unpleasant mystery. But the woods were much older than the old man, and so were the stories.

There were a few bus stops in Rasetsu, but most people were gone by Nichibotsu station, the last one before the long road to Senbonzu. On this particular June 1st, there was one person left when Meiko reached Nichibotsu station at sunset, a girl with short green hair sitting in the very back, wearing a green hoodie, white on the inside, that matched her hair and a blue tee shirt. The first people to get on at the station were three regulars, the yellow haired Kaganime twins, Rin and Len, and their best friend, Hatsune Miku. Miku was wearing her blue hair in pigtails today, along with her school uniform. Meiko noticed that her skirt was hemmed so that it was a little bit shorter, a common practice amongst the girls of Miku's school. Miku was a cute girl, adored by pretty much the whole town. Meiko didn't know as much about her as she did the twins, but she heard things. Miku was 16 and the town's diva. She was known for her voice, but she wasn't stuck up about it. After every performance she would always express the wish that she'd done better. She bounced on board and bowed to Meiko. Meiko smiled and waved back.

After Miku came the twins, who Meiko had known since they first starting taking the bus from their home in Senbonzu to their middle school in Rasetsu. Both were now 14. Rin greeted Meiko with a squeal and a hug, which Meiko was used to by now. Rin wore a bow in her hair and had a bubbly personality, which was a mild way of putting it. The girl was fond of pranks, which Meiko didn't mind, but it got her in a lot of trouble. Len, Rin's brother, greeted Meiko with a shy dip of the head. He was more mature and reserved than Rin, but still very much a child at heart. Together, the twins were considered delinquents. The first Meiko heard of them was a local story about the twins: when they were both ten years old, Rin and Len found their way into a roadroller and "accidentally" mowed down a building.

The two met Miku when they were all thirteen. Miku was already something of a celebrity, performing regularly at a concert hall in Senbonzu. Rin tried to dip her pigtails in black ink. Meiko had never been told exactly how, but that incident blossomed into a friendship.

The happy trio went to their usual seats near the front of the bus, sat down, and began to pour over Miku's phone. Miku was probably texting with her boyfriend.

The next two to get on was a couple. Meiko recognized the man, his name was Kaito. She had a crush on him when she first moved to Rasetsu. It never amounted to anything. Kaito had blue hair and the kind of face you'd see hear described in a fairy tale. He always looked a little sad, even when he was happy. From what she heard, he had a whimsical personality. Now he was engaged, she heard, so the woman next to him must be his fiancée. She had beautiful long pink hair, and a face that matched Kaito's in its beauty. A couple out of a catalogue. Meiko was happy for Kaito.

She waited a minute to see if anyone else was getting on, and when no one showed, she floored the gas and zoomed off into the wood. Kaito and his girlfriend looked nervously at each other, unused to Meiko's driving tactics, but the Kagamines and Miku were unfazed. Anyone who took the bus knew that Meiko drove like a drunk woman even when she wasn't, but she always got everyone to the other side of the woods.

* * *

A girl with short green hair sat in the back of the bus. She was quiet, not because she was sad, but she knew no one on the bus and was bored. So she looked out the window at the spread of watercolor flying past.

"Hey," The green haired girl looked up. It was Miku. "Are you ok?"

She was caught off guard. Miku was genuinely concerned. She nodded.

"You look lonely, you should come sit with us," Miku motioned to where the yellow siblings awaited her return. "I'm Miku, by the way. Hatsune Miku." Miku held out her hand.

"Gumi." the green haired girl answered simply.

"Hey," Miku said when Gumi turned her attention back to the window, "It isn't good to be alone."

"You don't want me with you."

"Yeah we do."

Gumi looked up. Miku was still there. So Gumi got up, took her bag, and went to sit with Len and Rin.

* * *

The sun was setting. Kaito had the pink haired girl asleep on his shoulder. He poked her head gently. "Luka," he said, "wake up."

Luka opened her eyes. "What is it?"

Kaito pointed out the window with delight on his face. "The sun, it's gone."

"Whut?"

"But it's still light out. They call it the golden hour." Luka didn't say anything so Kaito could tell she was mad at him for waking her up. "Now would be the perfect time to take a picture." Kaito prompted,

"Oh right!" Luka took her camera out of her bag and removed the lenses cap. "We should ask someone to take a picture of us," Luka said, "It will turn out better that way."

"It turns out really well when you take the photo yourself." Luka blushed a little at Kaito's praise.

"Excuse me," Luka said, getting Miku's attention.

"Huh? What is it?" Miku asked,

"Can you take a picture of me and my fiancée please?" Luka asked, holding out the camera.

"Sure," Miku said, "can I ask why you want your photo taken in a bus?"

"We're going on vacation, and we're making a photo journal of our trip," Luka explained, "It's important to show some of the parts where your traveling, not just all the landmarks you see."

Miku didn't really understand what Luka was talking about, but she took the photo without any further questions.

The photo didn't turn out. The faces in the pictures were blurry. No matter how many times Miku retook the photo, the faces were always blurry. Luka blamed it on the bus' movement, and the drivers inability to drive in a straight line.

* * *

Gumi was still quiet, because she was unsure how to act, but that didn't make things awkward. The Kagamines and Miku did all the talking for her.

"Did he text you back yet?" Rin asked Miku,

"No," Miku bit her lip, looking down at her phone's blue screen, "I still can't believe he said that."

"I know, right? What a jerk."

"Maybe you should dump him," Len suggested,

"Not until I've given him a chance to apologize," Miku said, appalled, "You really don't know how this works, do you?"

"I know enough," Len said,

"Are you getting reception?" Rin asked. She had her phone out and was staring at it with frustration, "I'm not getting reception."

"No, I'm not," Miku frowned, "This usually doesn't happen."

"Maybe it's because it's the first of June! Woooo!" Len said the last few words with a wavering spooky voice and wiggled his fingers at Miku,

"Stop it!" Miku giggled, "Open the window Len it's too hot!"

"You do it,"

"I don't have a window seat stupid."

Len rolled his eyes and opened the bus window. The wind ran its fingers through his blond hair, making it look like wheat in summer.

"What about you Gumi?" Rin asked, still upset about the phones, "Are you getting reception."

Gumi blinked, surprised to be drawn into the conversation suddenly. She was distracted by Len's hair. Gumi pulled out her phone, and checked it. No reception. She shook her head and Rin groaned,

"Meiko!" She called, "I don't have reception!"

"Not my problem," Meiko sang back, "you might have to actually have a face to face conversation on this drive."

"You say it like I can't have a face to face conversation," Rin pouted, "I have tons of face to face conversations. Gumi." Gumi looked up from her phone and found herself suddenly face to face with Rin, "Why are you going to Senbonzu?"

"Um," Gumi looked down at her hands, then over at Kaito and Luka, who were asleep on each other's shoulders.

"You don't have to answer us if you don't want to," Len said from right beside her.

"No," Gumi said, "I'm fine. Sorry." She smiled. It was the first time they had seen her smile, and it was short lived. "I'm going to military school."

"Military school?" Miku asked, "How old are you?"

"16. My parents say I have discipline issues. It's just a fancy way of saying I don't do what they want all the time."

"Woah" Rin's eye's widened, "You're going to Uramote Keisatsu right?"

"Yeah, that's the place. Do you know it?"

"Me and my brother live in Senbonzu," Rin smiled, gesturing to herself and Len, who was putting headphones on. "We know where Uramote Keisatsu is. It's the building we demolished when our mom threatened to send us there."

"You what?"

"We mowed it down in a big roadroller," Rin said, acting out the glorious memory as she told it, "Broke in, started the engine. Then... Boom! They had to build a whole new building, and then they didn't want us there anymore."

"Well, it wasn't exactly like that," Len said, lifting up one of his headphone ears, "They were planning on demolishing the building anyway, and it was really an accident. We didn't demolish it on purpose. The rest is true though."

"Maybe I'll see you when I'm there," Gumi said,

"Maybe," Len said, "I hear they keep going through most of summer, we'll probably be around a lot then. We'll visit you."

Rin hopped up and down in her seat, "Yeah, you wont get bored, not on our watch."

"I don't think I'll be bored regardless," Gumi said, "This isn't my first military school. I have a pretty good idea what it'll be like."

"You don't seem too excited about this military school, Himitsu Keisatsu, or whatever it was." Miku said. There was a pop. Rin was opening a bag of chips. Meiko allowed food on her bus unlike some drivers.

"No, I'm not," Gumi said, "I don't like military schools. They're confining."

"I'm sorry," Miku said, expertly snatching two chips from Rin and offering one to Gumi,

"Thanks," Gumi said, taking the chip and munching it.

Miku bit off the end of her chip and chewed pensively.

"Hey! What was that?" Rin was looking out the window and she saw something.

"What is it Rin?" Miku squashed into the seat with Rin so she could look out the window too, "What did you see?"

"It was like a big dog thing!" Rin said, obviously spooked,

"Maybe it was a ghost," Len said, implementing the spooky voice and fingers again, "Woooo!"

"I'm serious Len" Rin said with complete sobriety, "It was big, and running alongside us. I'm going to warn Meiko."

Rin never got to warn Meiko. There was a shout from the drivers seat, then a screech and a jerk that threw everyone backward. The lights went out.

* * *

**So that was Chapter 1. Please review. Also, tell me what you want. What vocaloid characters would you like me to shoehorn into this fic? What common fannon characteristics do you want me to use? I take your advice to heart.**

**ALSO! And this is important. I'm completely _not_ satisfied with my crappy title. If you can think of anything better, let me know.**

**More to come.**


	2. Chapter 2: Fog

**We made it my friends, to chapter 2. Due to some complications that definitely did not involve me idiotically forgetting to save a document, some of my edits were lost, but MountainGirl's edits are still there so happy face.**

**I'm not going to tell you that you have to review this chapter. I just want you to know that I know where you live. Even you Michel.**

**Enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

When Miku came to her senses everything was dark. She felt around in the dark and found she was lying on the roof of the bus, which had flipped upside down.

"How on earth did I survive?" Was her first thought, "Where is everyone?" was the second. She got to her knees and felt her head. There was a huge lump, but no further damage. Her eyes were adjusting to the dark now and she could make out shadowy shapes in the faint moonlight.

She was about to get up to leave the bus when she looked out the upside down window and saw a large dog shape. Before, Miku had forgotten that she was in the middle of the woods on the first of June, but her breath became suddenly painfully aware of that. She was unsure whether to scream or not. Her brain had just about convinced itself that the dog shape was just a strange shadow when it came to life. It moved toward the bus with breathtaking speed.

Miku saw the glint of teeth in the moonlight and started to scream. A hand covered her mouth and someone pushed her to the ground. Miku's scream was stifled and the dog shape collided with the bus, not where Miku was, but with the upside down hood. The thing went to work on the engine, tearing it out and chomping it repeatedly with powerful jaws.

Miku looked to the side and saw Gumi, lying low to the ground. She held a finger to her lips, then took her hand away from Miku's mouth. Miku did not attempt to scream again. Gumi nodded her head toward the emergency exit at the end of the bus and the two began to crawl toward it. It didn't take the dog shape long to finish destroying the bus' engine. It then started on the rest of the control panel. Miku kept thinking it would look up and see them inching their way along the floor of the bus, and every time, she wanted to move a little faster, but Gumi didn't let her. Why was she moving so slow?

Gumi's eyes darted back and forth. Where was her bag? She couldn't miss it, it was pink. The dog shape was finishing the front of the bus, but now they were nearing the end of the bus. Gumi pulled the emergency lever and the door opened. She hopped out, then helped Miku dismount. Then she saw it. Her bag, way up at the front of the bus where she was sitting earlier. Right where the dog shape was. It was running out of things to destroy and started ramming the sides of the bus.

"What are you doing!?" Miku hissed. "We have to get out of here before that thing notices us."

Gumi's feet wanted to go, but her head held her back. She teetered as if on the edge of a cliff, then turned to Miku. "You go, I'll catch up with you."

"What?" Miku panicked. "Don't leave me! I need you!"

But Gumi was already gone. Miku looked back in the bus, but Gumi wasn't there either. She looked around, feeling the same indecision that had plagued Gumi not a moment ago, then she turned and ran into the unnatural fog that now half obscured the road.

* * *

Kaito stumbled through the fog. Blood was running down his left arm, which hung at his side. He hurt it when he was thrown out of the bus. He must have flown pretty far though, because he couldn't find the bus anywhere, nor any of its inhabitants. Someone must have survived the crash other than him, and he knew he had to find them.

"Luka!" he stopped and looked around frantically. "Luka? Is anyone out there?" Kaito took another step and fell into a ditch. He caught his fall on his bad arm and collapsed. It was the ditch that ran along the side of the road to catch the rain and snow in winter. Kaito winced, gently running his fingers along his arm to try and gauge the damage.

He got up again, which was a chore because of his arm, then, not having the energy to try and climb back up to the road, continued along the ditch. As he went along, the channel deepened and the walls grew steeper. He soon realized it was a bad decision to stay in the channel. It gave him an ominous closed-in feeling, like something was about to grab him and drag him into the darkness. He kept looking over his shoulder. It was too late to try and get back on the road. He could have turned back, but every time he tried, he felt a bad energy coming from that way that made him keep moving forward. His feet continued to trip over each other, slowly onward.

Suddenly, he heard a voice crying out somewhere ahead of him. "Luka?" Kaito's feet stumbled uneasily into a run, "Luka!"

He stopped. There was a girl lying in the ditch, but it wasn't Luka. This girl had a bow in her blond hair, and she was much younger, he recognized her from the bus. Kaito ran to her. "Are you ok?" he asked, relieved to find anyone who survived the crash.

"Ow!" she moaned. "My head feels like hell."

"Have you seen anyone else from the crash? Have you seen Luka?"

"No." The girl sounded crabby. "Stop talking your hurting my head."

"Sorry." Kaito helped the girl to her feet. She was scrunching her eyes up to stop the pounding in her head. "What's your name again?"

"Rin."

"I'm Kaito."

"I thought I told you to stop talking,"

"Sorry." Kaito looked around anxiously. "We should find the bus, that's where everyone else probably is."

"Yeah," Rin said, unclenching her eyes a bit. "I need to find my useless brother."

"Oh right, your twin."

"Who's Luka?"

"My fiancée." Kaito smiled, but Rin could see his eyes were tormented by worry.

"That' beautiful woman with the pink hair sitting next to you?"

"Yeah."

Rin looked down and noticed the blood. "What happened to your arm?"

"I don't know."

"Let me see it." Kaito let Rin roll up his sleeve. "You've got a cut," she said.

"I can see that."

Rin glared at him, "We'll have to rip up your shirt to make bandages."

"What? It's not that bad."

"That's what they do in all the movies." Rin grinned. "The hot guy always rips up his shirt."

"No," Kaito said indignantly. "I'm engaged."

"Fine." Rin held up her hands, "If you don't want my medical expertise, that's fine I guess." Kaito rolled his eyes. "But-" Rin continued, "You might want to listen to this. We're in danger."

"Yeah I know, we were just in a car crash."

"No," Rin beckoned to Kaito, and the two leaned in as if Rin was sharing a piece of gossip at school, "I saw something out the window, like a dog but much larger, and with bigger teeth, and covered with blood, just before we crashed."

"Are you trying to scare me?" Kaito asked suspiciously, "cause that's not going to work."

"Ok, maybe it wasn't covered in blood," Rin admitted, "but it was there. I didn't see it for very long, but I think... I think this wood is haunted."

"That's stupid," Kaito said. "You don't have to be scared. We'll find the bus and the others, and we'll call and get help."

"I'm not scared." Rin crossed her arms. "And that's not going to work. There's no reception here."

"There's reception everywhere nowadays," Kaito said, reaching into his pocket for his phone and wondering why he hadn't thought of that earlier. His phone wasn't there. "Let me see your phone," Kaito said to Rin, holding out his hand,

"It's gone," Rin said. "That was the first thing I checked for when I woke up."

"Someone's bound to have their phone," Kaito said. "Let's get going." He started forward with new determination in his steps. The ditch didn't feel quite so ominous now that he wasn't alone.

"I reserve the right to say I told you so," Rin said, following Kaito into the fog.

* * *

Len was hopelessly lost. He'd woken up in a ditch a few feet away from where the bus was, but by the time he crawled his way out of the ditch, everyone was gone. The bus also looked like it was shoved through a paper shredder. The front was torn and the engine lay a few feet away like a broken heart. He'd waited a little, to see if anyone would show up, and while he was waiting, he saw a shape in the forest. It looked like a girl with pigtails. Thinking it was Miku, he ran off into the woods to follow the shape, but it must have been an illusion, or a weirdly shaped rock, because it led him nowhere but through a hopeless maze of trees.

The fog was dense, but even so, it shouldn't be as hard to see as it was. The fog seemed not only to dim the light but the senses. Len kept thinking there was something watching him, kept seeing eyes and the faces of people he knew, but whenever he looked twice, they were gone. It was exhausting.

He was a boy. Boys don't get scared. He was just annoyed, and jumpy, because who wouldn't be after a car crash like that, he didn't even know how he'd lived. The whole bus was upside down. Len picked up a long, pointed stick and brandished it like a sword, then he looked around embarrassed. Why? No one was around.

He kept the stick with him as he went on. It made him feel safer. Maybe he would still find Miku somewhere in this wood. She would be scared, and he would comfort her, then he would lead her out of these woods. Maybe she would like him better then.

As if in answer to his fantasy, he saw a girl standing in front of him. She looked looked like she was crying. She had blue pigtails.

"Miku?" Len asked. The girl turned and Len saw that it was indeed Miku. Her blue eyes were flooding over with fear, but when they saw Len, they flashed brightly. Miku ran to Len and flung her arms around him, sobbing. Len was shocked, but pleased. He returned her embrace and patted her comfortingly on the back with the hand that wasn't holding his makeshift sword. "It's okay," that was all he could think to say.

"I'm so glad I found you Len," Miku sobbed, "I was ever so worried."

"Uh- yeah. I'm glad I found you,"

"Stay with me forever Len."

"I will,"

"Forever?"

"What?" Len pushed away, "Um, isn't that what married people say?" he asked Miku. Miku stared at him blankly, saying nothing. "Is there something wrong?" Miku shook her head. Len waited for her to say something, but she didn't. Len couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. "We should go, we still need to find Rin," he said, looking over his shoulder at the woods behind him. He was wondering if the best way out was the way he came: but he'd tried that already.

"You're going to stay with me forever."

"What?" Len looked around at Miku again. She was staring at him with the same innocent expression. "What's wrong with you?" Miku didn't answer. Len raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything. He moved toward Miku, planning to take her hand, but as soon as he stepped forward, there was a loud bang. Miku fell to the forest floor, a red flower was blossoming on her throat.

Len looked wildly around, and out of the fog emerged a shape. It was Gumi. She was holding a gun with experience and her face was streaked with dirt and blood. Her eyes were cold as she regarded Miku's dying form.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Len yelled, he knocked Gumi's arms away so they fell to her side. Gumi looked up, as if coming out of a trance. "You just shot her you crazy- She-"

"I saved your life," Gumi said, her voice quavering, "That thing," she pointed at Miku venomously, "That thing doesn't deserve to live."

Len couldn't believe what he was hearing. Gumi seemed like such a nice girl on the bus. Quiet sure, but no murderer. "Get away!" he shouted, stepping forward and punching Gumi in the face.

Gumi suddenly looked like she was about to cry, "Wait, I was just trying to help."

"She was nice to you," Len said, jabbing his stick at Gumi to get her away from Miku's dead body, "She shared her food with you."

Gumi blinked. "No it didn't."

Len stared at her. Was this girl insane?

There was the sound of crunching leaves from off in the fog. Gumi readied her gun and Len raised his stick. "What are you guys doing?" The shape of two pigtails emerged, followed by blue eyes and a surprised face.

"Miku?" Len asked, "How?"

"Yeah, how and why am I dead?" Miku pointed at the dead Miku on the forest floor.

Gumi's face grew grim. She took Lens stick and used it to push the dead Miku's mouth open revealing razor sharp teeth and a long slitted tongue. Miku gasped a little. Len's face grew very pale.

"You didn't notice that?" Gumi asked.

"No," Len said. "She never talked when I was looking at her,"

"And you didn't find that strange?"

Len blushed, "Well- I was- I didn't."

"How are you still alive Len?" Miku asked.

"She looked just like you!"

"Except for the teeth and the snake tongue!"

"I didn't see that!"

"Stop," Gumi said quietly. "We can't fight right now guys. We need to get back to the bus."

"Are you kidding?" Miku asked. "What about that dog you and I saw?"

"The what?"

"You missed it Len, it was like a giant dog thing. Tore the engine apart."

"That's what destroyed the engine? Let's not go back to the bus."

"The dog isn't there anymore," Gumi said, checking how many bullets were left in her gun.

"Did you kill it?" Len asked,

"No, it chased me and I lost it. I shot it a few times."

"That's where the blood on your face came from,"

Gumi grimaced and nodded. "It didn't seemed fazed by the bullets."

"Where did you get that gun?" Miku asked,

"It was in my bag." Gumi slung her pink backpack off her back and pulled out an ammo cartridge. "This is my last one. I only brought two."

"But how did you get it? The dog-"

"Len opened our window, remember? I went around the side of the bus, and from there I was able to reach in and grab it."

"How are you able to use a gun?" Len asked.

"Military school?" Miku guessed.

"Before that. But also that," Gumi sighed. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Sorry."

"It's okay."

"Have any of you seen my sister?" Len asked.

Miku and Gumi both shook their heads. Their conversation faded into silence, punctuated by the clinking of metal on metal as Gumi slotted bullets into her gun. The sounds echoed in the empty mist. When she had finished, she noticed that everyone was looking at her "What?" she asked innocently.

"What are we gonna do next?" Len asked.

"Why are you asking me that?"

Miku shrugged, "You're the one who seems like she knows what she's doing the most."

"No to mention you just saved my life." Len added.

"You've got the gun."

"I don't know what's going on here any more than you do," Gumi said. "I don't know what that thing was." She pointed at the ground and Miku screamed a little. "What is it?" Gumi looked down. Fake Miku's body was gone.

"Where did it go?" Len asked. Gumi just stared at the empty patch of grass. "Things don't just disappear," Len half meant the sentence as a question.

"Maybe it was never there in the first place," Miku wondered aloud. "This fog seems a little unnatural to me. What if it's some kind of gas? They use that in chemical warfare, don't they Gumi?"

Again Gumi didn't answer.

"She wasn't a hallucination," Len said angrily. "I touched her, she was real."

"Girls with snake tongues don't exist in real life."

"Well neither do giant demon dogs. Besides, if this is a hallucination, why are we all seeing the same things."

"Shut up," Gumi said. Len and Miku quit bickering and looked at Gumi. "I don't know if it's a chemical gas," she explained. "Just because I'm going to military school, doesn't mean I know everything there is to know about the military. I do know that when you're lost, the best thing to do is to stay put until someone finds you."

"Great," Len threw up his arms. "We're all going to starve."

"We can't stay here I think," Gumi said. "But we have to stay together, and we have to look out for each other. We should head back to the bus."

"But that's where-"

"If it was real, it's not there anymore," Gumi said,

"We should hold hands," Miku said, "so no one get's lost."

"That's stupid," Len scoffed,

"But practical," Gumi took Miku's hand, then extended her other hand to Len. She smiled again. "Let's go." Len dubiously took Gumi's hand. The green haired girl smiled encouragingly again, then lead them off into the fog, trying with all her might to hide the fear inside her heart.


	3. Chapter 3: Sanctuary

**I made it all the way to chapter three. I'm so proud of myself. Thanks to everyone whose supported me so far. I love you all. **

**Be warned. I have two beta readers who give me advice I can ignore and check my spelling. Of the two, one of them told me this chapter was a bit slow, and I guess it is. But I've decided it's necessary set up so bear with me. The same probably goes for the next chapter. It'll get pretty exciting pretty soon though, I got some great stuff planed.**

**Also there is LenxMiku in this chapter. I'm setting up a love triangle.**

**Without further ado, here's the chapter:**

* * *

Kaito and Rin walked for some time before they found Luka. She was unconscious when they found her and they had to shake her to wake her up.

"Luka," Kaito shook her gently, "Are you ok? Wake up." Luka did not respond.

"Good Morning sunshine!" Rin yelled at the top of her voice, her face a few inches away from Luka's.

Luka jolted bolt upright and rin had to jump out of the way not to get hit, "Ah!"

"Say what you want," Rin shrugged when Kaito looked at her disapprovingly, "It worked."

"Kaito!" Luka whispered. "Something's wrong."

"Are you hurt?" Kaito asked.

"I can't feel my legs." Luka pushed herself up on her arms to try and get up, but her legs hung behind her like they belonged to a newborn fawn.

"Here," Kaito put her arm over his good shoulder and lifted her up, "Can you stand now?"

"No! Don't let go!" Luka clung to Kaito,

"Ok, ok, it's ok." Kaito set Luka down. He took off his jacket and draped it around her shoulders, then he rolled up his sleeve. It was the first time he'd gotten a good look at his injured arm. Rin was right, it needed to be bandaged, but he was loath to admit it to her.

"I told you so," Rin said, as if reading his mind. "It needs attention. Look away, we can use my shirt instead."

"What!? No!" But Rin was already removing her school issued sweater. Kaito averted his eyes. Rin took off her shirt, then put the sweater back on. The shirt was too small anyway and it made her feel uncomfortable.

"Ok," she said, "What the hell do we do with this?"

"I thought you were the expert?" Kaito asked,

"You want to make a sling, right?" Luka asked. Rin nodded. "Give it to me." Luka took the shirt, then pulled Kaito over to her. Within minutes, she'd made an effective bandage out of Rin's shirt for Kaito's arm.

"Wow!" Rin said. "How'd you learn how to do that?"

"I used to make my own clothes all the time," Luka smiled. "I can be pretty handy with cloth."

"Thanks," Kaito showed his appreciation by bending down and giving Luka a kiss.

"That's one down," Rin said, rubbing her hands together. "Three too go."

"Three?"

"Yeah, three. Miku, Meiko, and my brother."

"Whose Meiko?" Kaito asked,

"The bus driver."

"I'm sorry," Luka said. "What's your name again?"

"Rin," Rin put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes, "My name is Rin Kagamine, if you don't remember anyone else's name, remember mine. And I ain't going to leave my brother all alone in a creepy and possibly haunted forest ok?"

"The woods aren't haunted," Kaito insisted. "And in case you've forgotten, Luka can't walk."

"Carry her then prince charming," Rin said, "I didn't make you that bandage for nothing." Kaito glared at her. Rin shrugged, "You can stay if you want, I'm going to find Len, and you can stay here all alone in the dark without cell phone reception."

"I'm not letting you go alone." Kaito sighed. "You could get hurt, or worse. Luka, is it alright if I carry you?"

The whole debate only made Luka's smile wider. "Take me away, prince," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck.

* * *

They found the bus mostly by luck. They came to a place where the channel became shallow enough that they thought they could climb up onto the road, and once there, they saw an emergency light blinking through the fog like a bloody will-o-the-wisp. It belonged to the bus. It was still working, but it seemed to be the only thing that was working. The rest of the bus was trashed. Luka insisted that they get their bags out of the compartments. She wanted their photo journal and her camera in particular. They found Luka's purse in the bus and the photo journal in the baggage compartment. Luka also gave Rin one of her shirts, which was too big.

They had to leave the rest behind, since Kaito couldn't carry it, and Rin wouldn't carry it. Rin was anxious to find her friends, particularly Len, and she persuaded them to leave early by threatening to go off alone if they didn't follow her. Rin picked the direction she deemed most favorable and the three of them set off together into the woods.

* * *

There was a house in the woods. A long time ago, in the feudal era of Japan, an innkeeper had built an inn in the woods, hoping to attract more business with less competition. The inn was plagued with bad luck. Guests would go missing frequently. But the innkeeper never abandoned the inn. He got attached to it in the way only humans can, the stubbornness inside of us that refuses to give up. Eventually, he was killed while trying to put out a fire in one of the upper rooms. The inn survived the fire, but no one went near it for a while after that.

When they were building the road through the wood, they found the inn. No one demolished the place, they didn't have the heart to. It was too old and full of memories. They did rope the place off with yellow caution tape.

The Kokoro inn was not a malicious place, unlike the rest of the wood. It had been loved and valued, and that strengthened the wood fibers that made it. It had two stories, the first floor for drinking, laughing, and newly weds, the second floor for travelers to rest. There was a sign hanging outside with no name on it. Perhaps there had been a name on it a long time ago, but now the only name it had was the name etched on its front post.

Kokoro had a knack for attracting travelers. Len, Gumi, and Miku had been wandering in the perpetual night for what seemed like days. Their feet were tired, their heads as foggy as the woods around them. Miku was beginning to get frustrated, although she wouldn't say anything about it. Gumi was afraid of what would happen if they couldn't find their way back to the road. Len was just hungry.

And in the fog, they found the inn. Although it was friendly, it did not look that way. It was old and rotting, and the doorway gapped at them soundlessly. The caution tape all sprawled across it didn't exactly help.

"Well," Len said, "It's not the bus, but it's shelter."

"You say that like you're planning on going inside," Miku said. Len shrugged. "No way," Miku said. "That place is definitely haunted."

"There's no such thing as ghosts," Gumi said. She knew the best way for them to get found was to find a landmark, and since they couldn't find the road, this was probably the next best thing. It was probably on record somewhere. Gumi slouched forward toward the inn and Len followed,

"Wait, guys!" Miku took a step forward to follow them, then stopped.

"We're going in Miku," Len said, "I'll look around to make sure it's safe, then I'll come get you. You can wait out here if it makes you nervous."

"Ok." Miku wrung her hands as Gumi and Len disappeared into the darkened inn. Without her friends at her side the woods felt much larger, and much quieter. Miku began to hum quietly to herself to try and ward off the silence. She was so nervous, the tune barley came out as a whisper. So she began to sing quietly.

_Suyasuya yume wo miteru _

_Kimi no yokogao _

_Kidzukazu koboreta namida _

_Hou wo tsutau_

_Setsuna no tokimeki wo _

_Kono mune ni kakushiteta no_

Somewhere in the woods, a twig snapped. In the vast silence, the sound expanded into a cataclysmic event. Miku's voice ceased so instantly there was an echo. She stood frozen, her hands brought together in front of her lips and her shoulders tensed. Her heart was sending waves of adrenaline off the inside of her ribs. Her eyes darted around, straining at the mist to see what had made the sound. Then Miku saw a girl standing halfway behind a tree a few feet away. A girl with blond hair wearing a bow and a tattered purple dress.

"Rin!" Miku relaxed, she was even relieved. Rin must have heard her voice and come to her. Strange that she hadn't said anything yet though, Rin usually loved to hear herself talk. "I'm so glad you found us," Miku said, approaching Rin, "do you know which way the road is? Cause we are so lost." Rin disappeared behind the tree. When Miku got to the tree, she wasn't there anymore. "Rin?" Miku looked around, confused. "Rin!?"

"Miku!" It was Len. He was standing at the door of the inn. "What are you doing?"

"I thought I saw Rin," Miku explained, gesturing to the tree,

"Where?"

"She's not here anymore." Miku sighed, "I must have imagined her. The girl I saw had a purple dress. Rin was wearing her school uniform just like you and me."

"Well, you know how this forest is," Len's smiled, but his shoulders slouched. Miku could tell he was disappointed. "It makes you see things. Why don't you come inside? Me and Gumi have checked the whole place out, it's perfectly safe."

"Ok." Miku didn't like the house any better, she just didn't want to stay outside anymore. She hurried to Len's side.

* * *

After passing through the entryway, they found themselves in a small room with tatami rice matt floors. It was sparsely furnished back in it's hay day, and now entirely with dust, except where Gumi and Len's footsteps broke the grey. There was a rusted iron stove in the middle of the room. Len led Miku down a hall past the front room. There was a door on the left and two doors on the right, and at the end, there were some stairs. The one of the left was open, and it lead to a tiny room with a closet as one wall, and a shelf as another. This was the manager's office, although the brave trio didn't know it, and it served as both bedroom and accounting space for the owner of the inn. Gumi was inside the manager's office. She'd opened the closet and found nothing inside.

"This room is the cleanest," Len said. "There's less dust."

Miku took a step inside and coughed as her footsteps disturbed the sleeping room's ancient blanket. "Cleanest?"

"Yeah. You'll see when I show you the other ones."

"I'm going to look around outside while you show her the rest of the rooms," Gumi said, jabbing her thumb in the direction of the door.

"Ok."

"Be careful," Miku called as Gumi left the room. It was still very dark outside and Miku had an uneasy feeling about the girl she had seen earlier.

"Come on," Len said. "Gumi will be fine." He led her down the hall to the doors on the right. The first one led to a kitchen. The floor was stone and the room had an old iron stove next to the side wall. There were no pots or pans, but Miku recognized it as a kitchen. There was more dust than the last room though.

"I see what you mean now," Miku observed. Len nodded.

The last room on the first floor wasn't covered in dust. The ceiling and upper level had collapsed, leaving it exposed to the woods. The rice matt floor was shredded and coated over with leaves and decay. There was a wooden frame in the room, which Miku supposed must have been a futon once. There was a suspicious dark stain on the same wall as the door.

"I think this was a honeymoon suite of some sort once," Len said. He was correct, as it so happens. Miku didn't answer. She was distracted by the forest beyond the room. She saw shapes floating in the darkness. "Are you ok?" Miku snapped out of her trance and her eyes focused on Len's worried face.

"I'm-" she stopped. She wasn't sure if she was ok.

"You'll probably feel better after you've had some sleep," Len said, putting a hand on her shoulder, "Me and Gumi decided it would be best to sleep in that first room I showed you." Len lead Miku back to the manager's office. Gumi had left her bag there, leaning against the wall with the closets. Len moved the bag and opened the closet. He dusted off the lower shelve with his sleeve. "Here," He gestured, "You can sleep here."

"Looks just as safe as any place I suppose," Miku got down and crawled into the small space. It was relatively comfortable, and thanks to Len, dust free.

Len took off his school sweater and handed it to Miku, "In case you get cold,"

Miku smiled. "It's summer Len."

"Then use it as a pillow."

"Thanks." Miku accepted Len's gift, rolled it up, and nestled it between her head and her shoulder. Then she rolled over on her side. Len got up to leave. "Don't go," Miku said.

"Ok, I won't." Len sat down next to the door, feeling very, very happy for a reason he couldn't quite put his finger on.

* * *

Gumi didn't find anything particularly exciting outside of the inn. She found an old well, but it was dry. She found the collapsed honeymoon suite, but she and Len had already found that. They hadn't explored the upper levels yet, so Gumi went back inside, resolving to check the second floor. On her way, she spotted the letters carved into the doorpost so long ago: Kokoro.

"That must be the name of this place," she thought as she ran her fingers over the cold wood, "Kokoro. It's nice." She passed through the entry way and the main room, and when she got to hall, she saw that Len and Miku were both asleep in the managers office. The sight made her smile. She didn't want to wake them up, so she continued to the stairway without telling them, but she did grab her bag before leaving.

The stairway was very dark and the ceiling was low. Gumi was glad to be past it and on the second floor. The second floor was somehow darker than the first, so Gumi took a flashlight out of her bag and turned it on. She hadn't used it till now because she didn't have any extra batteries, and she knew they would run out quickly. The first floor had another hall, with three doors to either side. The closest one to the staircase on the left, however, had collapsed into the honeymoon suite. That was the only place where light came through. Gumi opened all the doors and found rooms, all of them similar to the one downstairs only slightly larger and without the shelves. It was almost depressingly bare.

Gumi found she was able to climb up to the roof from the second floor via a slanting section of the roof created by the collapsed section. From on top of the roof, she could just barely see above the tree line. The horizon was dark, there was no sign of the sunrise. Gumi sat down, enjoying the fresh air. She leaned her head back, closing her eyes, allowing a smile to creep across her face. She opened her eyes, and then she noticed. There were no stars. The sky was completely black, punctuated only by a full yellow moon, and there weren't any clouds. Gumi couldn't look away from the empty sky. It was strangely absorbing, but terrifying. She tore her eyes away and shook her head. This place was getting to her.

* * *

**Hey guys! The song Miku's singing is a real actual vocaloid song! Five points to whoever can guess which. See you next time.**


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